broody hen hatching chicks - does it know what it's doing?

[firefowl]

I put 6 fertile eggs (3x Olive Egg, 3x French Maran) that I bought under my broody hen 21 days ago. Two of them have hatched today and the hen has seemed to be abandon the other eggs to tend to the chicks. It's been a few hours now since I seen her off the eggs. It's been very hot today she almost didn't even need to incubate them. But now I'm wondering if I should take the rest of the eggs to the incubator? It's exactly 21 days to the hour now so I'd be expecting the other to hatch around about now. I thought it didn't know what it was doing when the chicks weren't drinking then I picked her up to get to the chicks and she spat out some water.

 

[Pork Pie]

I'd try incubating them, but you may wish to candle them to see if they are viable. This link may help - http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/2...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation

 

[Sagey_7878]

Broody hens tend to leave the remaining eggs once they think all chicks will hatch. Check if they’re still viable. She’ll teach them everything but you can dip their beaks in to give the chicks a head start.

 

[Sagey_7878]

Try incubating them.... There’s probably chicks in there.

 

[featheredplanets]

Yes, candle them first. You could hatch them, then slip them back under her. She’s probably confident all her babies have hatched

 

[Sagey_7878]

If she’s not sitting on them, put them under her at night or incubate them. Check if they’re still viable first

 

[chickens really]

I place feed and water right close to the Hen so she remains on the nest to hatch the remaining as the others feed and Drink. She will get off the nest if the hatch is too staggered.
Best wishes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It sounds like they could be shipped eggs. Sometimes you just don’t get a good hatch for shipped eggs. Sometimes you don’t anyway but shipped eggs are notorious for that. Still congratulations on the two you did get. Since you mentioned today is 21 days I assume they all started at the same time, which is good.

After an egg internal pips but before the chick external pips the hen and chick start talking to each other. That way the hen should know another chick is on the way and does not abandon the nest too early. Not all broody hens are perfect about that but the odds are really good there are no more viable eggs if she has abandoned them. Still you can candle them if you wish or put them in the incubator for a couple of days. With living animals you don’t get guarantees, I’d do one or the other. But don’t get your hopes up too high.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I could not help but notice the green polka dot bowl with H20 in it. Have you ever heard that you can never go back again? Well this is true in spades for baby chicks because as soon as they escape the watery confines of the egg, dry off, and fluff up, water and the heat loss associated with getting wet will kill baby chicks as fast as a 12 Gauge scattergun.

It looks like the hen has been scratching in the nesting material looking for tidbits to feed her brood, if this is the case she may have already bonded with her chicks and the chicks with their mother in which case you may face a difficult time getting her to acknowledge any more chicks. Every hen is different in this respect and it can vary from clutch to clutch with the same hen.. .

 

[featheredplanets]

I put 6 fertile eggs (3x Olive Egg, 3x French Maran) that I bought under my broody hen 21 days ago. Two of them have hatched today and the hen has seemed to be abandon the other eggs to tend to the chicks. It's been a few hours now since I seen her off the eggs. It's been very hot today she almost didn't even need to incubate them. But now I'm wondering if I should take the rest of the eggs to the incubator? It's exactly 21 days to the hour now so I'd be expecting the other to hatch around about now. I thought it didn't know what it was doing when the chicks weren't drinking then I picked her up to get to the chicks and she spat out some water.

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Any update on your hen and chicks?